When video games are brought up, “violent” and “corrupting” and “time-wasting” are paired with them. For those of you who believe this, I encourage you most of all to continue reading.
Since childhood, I have had anxiety. When you’re young, you must find a way to cope with these types of things or else life will be simply miserable. I tried sports, art, reading, crocheting, multiple instruments and just about every one of those tasks have been a simple phase compared to what video games have done for me. Especially one series in particular: Animal Crossing.
My first experience with Animal Crossing was in my grandfather's house on a lazy Sunday afternoon when I was about eight years old. He’s a professional antique buyer/seller and would often buy video games for me and my brothers when he saw them. He came home from his daily garage sales and gave us a worn Nintendo GameCube with a copy of Animal Crossing and Mario Kart. Of course, my brothers wanted to play Mario Kart all the time but I was more interested in this game disc that was green and black with two simple trees on the front.
I had never seen such a simple cover for a video game before. I always thought they had to be complex with unforgiving game play. But once I popped the miniature disc into the system, I found a simple world of little consequence and pure leisure. I was a human townsfolk in a small village filled with animals who acted as neighbors and friends. I could hunt for bugs, fish, pop balloons with a slingshot and plant flowers and trees wherever I pleased. The calming music playing in the background and the simplicity of the scenery made me feel like there was true calm in my life.
I could work to make my town whatever beautiful work of art I wanted to. Going to my grandfather's house meant I got to partake in caring for my cute little town. It was what brought me a sense of calm in my little life. Knowing this, you can imagine how crushed my heart was when I learned my grandpa was told by my brothers to sell the GameCube. With my devastated heart, I carried on and settled for other video games.
That is, until I acquired a pink Nintendo DS Lite (I remember my first game was Hannah Montana). When I looked through the DS section of Toys R’ Us and saw an Animal Crossing: Wild World box, I was ecstatic. I begged for it for months until my parents saw how much I really wanted it. Little did they know, they had sparked something bigger in me that would continue into my teenage years and even adulthood.
I took my DS with my copy of Animal Crossing everywhere with me. I took it to school, friends houses and bed. I admit, I would get in trouble sometimes for playing it when I was supposed to be reading at my after school program or at night when I would try to sneakily hide the light of the screen from the cracks of my doors. In my town, there was always a need to water my flowers or go check on my museum or earn more bells (the currency of all Animal Crossing games) for my next house upgrade. To me, these little tasks were vital in keeping my purely positive reinforced game alive.
The DS soon became outdated with the release of the Nintendo Wii. There was also a new release for a new title called “Animal Crossing: City Folk." And with the release of the Nintendo 3DS game Animal Crossing: New Leaf (Not to mention all the spin off games such as Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer and Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival). These variations of the game I have put well into over 1,000 hours of my life into.
"Why though?” You must be asking yourself, “It seems like such a waste of time." I’m aware that this game might have taken a lot of my time (and continues to), but I don’t regret a second of it. It was a stress reliever that taught me responsibility, patience and how to be calm. It showed me the beauty of simplicity, the power of just a few words and how to wisely invest my time into small tasks that eventually makes the big picture more beautiful. I’ve been able to create art within the towns (in my own virtual way). Even today, when I’m stressed, I just open up my 3DS and play away until I feel better.
